CITIZEN POWER AND GRASSROOTS DEMOCRATIC REFORM

Abstract

This academic article aimed to examine the role and potential of citizen power in driving grassroots democratic reform within the contemporary Thai sociopolitical context. It began by analyzing the conceptual foundations of participatory and bottom-up democracy, emphasizing political participation that extended beyond electoral processes. This included civic learning, critical inquiry, community mobilization, and policy advocacy in which citizens actively shaped the direction of their society. The study was found that citizen power played a vital role in challenging centralized political structures through collective action at the local and community levels. This indicated that democracy was not a framework designed and granted solely by the state, but rather a process co-created, defended, and continuously developed by the people to reflect their lived realities and aspirations. The article argued that sustainable democratic reform required empowering citizens, expanding public spaces for inclusive participation, and fostering a new political culture rooted in equality, justice, and civic ownership. These elements together contributed to a transformation in which democracy took root not only in institutional systems but also in the everyday lives of people across all sectors of society.